Chants rang out around Luzhniki stadium in Moscow: "Putin! Putin! Putin!", which gave way to "The people! Medvedev! Putin!" and then "Russia! Russia! Russia!" Delegates from the ruling United Russia party dutifully applauded while youth activists, bussed in from the provinces, waved bulky flags for two hours straight.
But one man was not happy. "When you scream 'Putin! Medvedev!' that's well enough," Vladimir Putin called out from the podium as he officially accepted his party's nomination for a presidential election that he is all but assured of winning. "But when you say 'Russia!' the whole room should shout," he ordered.
A great roar rose up as Putin loudly banged the podium in time to his subjects' obedient chants.
After four years as prime minister, a role he took up because of a constitutional ban on any individual serving more than two consecutive terms as president, Putin is not just returning to the Kremlin. He is embracing a neo-Soviet cult of personality that has transformed from publicity stunts showing off his physique and prowess to all-out adoration intent on proving that no other leader is fit to run Russia.